Full Disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

Cross posted from the Courage Campaign blog and at DailyKos

The final results are in for Los Angeles County, with nearly 80% of the double bubble ballots ultimately being counted towards the final total.  As the Whittier Daily News reports:

The count, completed Sunday, had no effect on the outcome of the primary.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton received 51 percent of the 47,153 votes that were counted. Barack Obama gained 42percent of those same ballots.

Just over 12,000 votes could not be interpreted, said Dean Logan, the acting registrar-recorder/county clerk.

Of course, as the article goes on to say, Logan began the process not expecting any of the ballots to be counted:

Logan initially believed none of the “double bubble” votes could be counted in cases where non-partisan voters had failed to fill in a bubble specifying in which party’s presidential race they were casting a “crossover” ballot.

This is a huge victory for functional elections, and a tremendous testimony to what people power can accomplish when focused on the system threatening to fail voters.  This was never about the candidates involved, and the results ultimately mirrored rather closely the overall numbers.  But what we do get is voices being heard.  Rick Jacobs said that “Today, due to people-powered politics, a petition signed by 32,802 people, and the persistent attention of our lawyers and the media, the votes have been counted,” and echoed the focus on election integrity, noting

“This was not about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. It was about counting as many votes as possible in this historic high-turnout election and increasing the faith of the public in the system.” said Jacobs. “The Courage Campaign is proud to have played a significant role in ensuring the integrity of this election as well as finally junking these infamous ‘double-bubble’ ballots in future elections.”

In addition to the final vote count being announced, the double bubble issue and all the other reported election day trouble has prompted discussion about how to improve the LA County help-desk system.  A revamped system would move away from a paper-based operation and guide operators through helping voters resolve concerns.  But as Rick explains, it may not be quite so simple:

There were people who called in to us to complain, and people testing the system for us were quite shocked,” Jacobs said. “Anything they can do to get people the right information and to help them understand how to vote when they show up is vital.

So even as the double bubble issue’s resolution is still fresh, the business of reforming and improving elections in Los Angeles and beyond continues.  We’ve proven our ability to win these fights, and there will be plenty more to come.

Indeed, the double-bubble issue has already spurring action that goes beyond just this single incident.  In a rare joint hearing, three legislative committees that address election policy will meet in Los Angeles on Friday, March 7, to address the double-bubble issue and other problems faced by California voters on Feb. 5.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Acting Registrar Dean Logan and his predecessor, Registrar Conny McCormack, will appear. Election law lawyer Steven Reyes, of Kaufman Downing LLP, will be speaking at the hearing on behalf of the Courage Campaign.

Friday’s joint hearing is set for Friday at 1 p.m. in the auditorium of the Ronald Reagan State Building at 300 S. Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles.

You can see the pdf of the full LA County Registrar report here

From an email to supporters from Charlie Brown, here are the 9 – count ’em, 9 – elections that Tom McClintock has run for in California, culminating with his entry into the CA-04 race today:

Chair, Ventura County Republican Party

CA State Assembly, District 36 in Southern California

U.S. House of Representatives, District 24 in Southern California

CA State Controller

CA State Assembly, District 38 in Southern California

CA State Senate, District 19 in Southern California

CA State Controller – Again

CA Governor in the recall election

CA Lt. Governor

U.S. House of Representatives, District 04

You could conceivably make it 10, because he was prepping a run for the state Board of Equalization before bolting to head 418 miles north to Roseville to run for Congress.

All he needs is a site called “Renew America” or something, and several failed runs for President and US Senate in states where he doesn’t live, and he’d give Alan Keyes a run for his money.

HOUSTON–Maybe he threw in the phrase to show some good old fashion Texas courtesy, but San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s comments about Barack Obama yesterday, didn’t exactly ring with high esteem.

In fact, after talking with the mayor for ten minutes before his appearance at the Stonewall Democrats rally for Clinton yesterday, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that “respect” isn’t exactly what Newsom feels towards the senator.

When I asked him about Clinton’s policies regarding Transgenders, the mayor responded by shifting the blame, saying, “I was very disappointed with a lot of democrats, including Barack, who hasn’t talked much about the transgender community either, with all due respect.”

Here was the kicker-after mentioning that Clinton has “been at these issues a lot longer,” Newsom continued, “I got to tell you I was very disappointed when Barack Obama said he didn’t see any difference between civil union and marriage…to me it was very hurtful particularly coming from someone in the African American community who understands separate is not equal.”

Slam.

The mayor continued, “It only just reinforced my own experiences on these issues.”

Whether he was referring to the general abandonment of the Democratic Party after his controversial endorsement of gay-marriage in San Francisco four years ago, or a direct blow towards Obama, is up to interpretation.

In 2004, during his campaign for the U.S. Senate, Obama allegedly snubbed Newsom in his home city of San Francisco. While at the actual event yesterday the mayor did not mention Obama directly, he did allude to the fact that Clinton was the only one who stood by him during this time.

Newsom went on to compare Obama to John McCain and other Republicans-again, “with all due respect.”

“Look [Obama’s] so much better than John McCain, so much better than most of the Republicans,” he said, “So I’m proud to embrace him as an alternative to Hillary Clinton.”

Newsom’s support for Clinton comes largely from her ability to make change. “With her it’s always been about making change, that’s why she’s been so controversial,” he said. “They say dogs don’t bark at parked cars.”

After Newsom’s trip to the Lone Star State to campaign on behalf of Clinton, it looks like cars in motion stick together.

The mayor concluded, “People don’t get upset about people who aren’t about change, they get upset about people who are about change.” (That and people who snub them at fundraising events.)

For more on the ground Texas coverage check out seattlepoliticore.org

As San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom barnstormed gay bars in Texas this weekend on behalf of Hillary Clinton, he attacked Barack Obama for opposing same-sex marriage. Although both contenders share opposition to gay marriage, only Obama has pledged to repeal the entire federal law which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages performed by the states.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Newsom told a recent crowd “I was very disappointed when Barack Obama said he didn’t see any difference between civil union and marriage. To me it was very hurtful; particularly coming from someone in the African American community who understands separate is not equal.”

As a supporter of full marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, I share Newsom’s disappointment with Obama. But I hold the same level of disappointment with Hillary who only supports civil unions and her husband Bill who signed the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act into law.

Hillary, ever-mindful of supporting her husband’s legacy has only vowed to roll back a portion of the law to allow same-sex couples to access federal benefits.

That position only supports civil unions which Newsom must be uncomfortable with, while Obama pledges to repeal the entire separate and unequal law to allow individual states to determine marriage rights for same-sex couples.

Does Newsom possess any political integrity on an issue he became so famous for across the country?

Must Obama be held to a higher standard because he comes from the African American community?

Does Newsom prefer Clinton triangulation over the values of gay rights?

It appears as if Newsom conveniently ignores the inadequacy of his candidate’s position in an effort to motivate gay voters in Texas to support the former first lady in Tuesday’s tightly contested primary and caucuses.

There is nothing wrong with supporting one candidate over another, but Newsom ought to maintain some personal and political integrity towards the issue because in politics we have no permanent friends, only permanent issues.

I do some work for No on 98/Yes on 99.

So, this could be some serious good time fun.  The No on 98 Campaign is planning on running a little video contest, with the winner getting $1,000!  The object will be to make light of some of the nasty, nasty stuff that Prop 98 will do to the state of California (like eliminate rent control) or just highlight some of the crazy shenanigans going on in the Yes on 98 campaign. And if you choose the latter, well, let’s just say I’d take a look at Capitol Weekly, the Save Rent Control blog or some of the other great news sites around the state.

The goal is for YouTube videos of about a minute in length. They’ll be judged by the crack Yes on 98 Video Team (a lofty group I assure you) and some great videos will be highlighted on  NoProp98.org. It will be a blast, I’m sure. For full details, check out the No 98 website here.

OK here is what was found in this on-the-ground report from a Newsom event in Houston.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…

When I asked him about Clinton’s policies regarding Transgenders, the mayor responded by shifting the blame, saying, “I was very disappointed with a lot of democrats, including Barack, who hasn’t talked much about the transgender community either, with all due respect.”

Here was the kicker-after mentioning that Clinton has “been at these issues a lot longer,” Newsom continued, “I got to tell you I was very disappointed when Barack Obama said he didn’t see any difference between civil union and marriage…to me it was very hurtful particularly coming from someone in the African American community who understands separate is not equal.”

Slam.

Now, what is possessing this man to go tell Texans to vote for Clinton because Obama favors civil unions over gay marriage ?

I mean, did he even listen to Hillary Clinton ? Read her programs ? Her stance on gay issues ? The record of her husband ?

What kind of chutzpah does he take to attack Obama for the very same – unfortunate – stance the candidate he had endorsed also holds !

Well, I think I know

The mayor concluded, “People don’t get upset about people who aren’t about change, they get upset about people who are about change.” (That and people who snub them at fundraising events.)

Yeah. That’s about it. Well, another one I can cross off my list.

If only he could get as much flak as Villaraigosa does in LA for his spending so much time stumping for her out of town.